Hurricanes getting their swag back

Brad Kaaya of the Miami Hurricanes drops back to pass during the first half against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at Bobby Dodd Stadium on October 1, 2016 in Atlanta, Georgia.Daniel Shirey / Getty Images

The bad boys of NCAA football who were very, very good with the likes of Bernie Kosar, Vinny Testaverde, Michael Irvin, Gino Torretta, Jessie Amsted, Ed Reed and Bryant McKinnie …

Folks in The Magic City are longing for that swag once more.

And Hurricanes faithful can feel the excitement building in what’s being hailed a promising new beginning under Mark Richt.

But, please, one step at a time, says the ‘Canes first-year head coach.

“We won the game,” Richt told ESPN’s Kris Budden following Saturday’s 35-21 win by No. 13 Miami (4-0) over the host Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (3-2). “You kind of win and move on, when it comes time for trying to become division champions. That’s what everybody’s doing in the ACC. Everybody’s trying to win the division. We played our first (in-conference game), and we’re 1-0, so we’re thankful.”

Thankful for premier quarterback Brad Kaaya, to be sure.

And thankful on this day for two scoop-and-scores by the defence.

Junior QB Kaaya tossed 13-of-19 for 241 yards to lead an offence that’s expected to help the Hurricanes in the ultra-competitive ACC (think the No. 3 Louisville Cardinals, the No. 5 Clemson Tigers and the No. 12 Florida State Seminoles). His 694 yards on the season and poise in the pocket puts him in the Heisman Trophy conversation and on the NFL first or second-round radar.

But Saturday, it was second-quarter fumble returns off Georgia Tech QB Justin Thomas for touchdowns 46 seconds apart by Miami teammates Shaquille Quarterman and Joe Jackson that spelled the difference in the ACC contest.

“They’re well-coached — they’re playing hard,” said Richt of his defence. “We had obviously some opportunistic plays that put points on the board, which happens rarely to have two like that in the same game. But just really proud of all of them.”

Richt himself is billed to be a big difference-maker for the Hurricanes.

Case in point: the former Georgia Bulldogs coach has never lost at Atlanta’s Bobby Dodd Stadium to Georgia Tech in nine meetings — Saturday’s being his first with the ’Canes.

It was Miami’s first big test under Richt, with Florida State and the North Carolina Tar Heels even bigger tests in the next two weeks.

A sweep of those two games and then maybe they can talk about swag again in South Florida.

“Everybody talks about Miami having ‘swag,’” said Richt in a pre-game speech before blasting the upstart Appalachian State Mountaineers in Week 3. “When I took this job, all they wanted to talk about (was), ‘Is Miami getting the swag back?’ I said, ‘You know what? Swag ain’t dancing to me. Swag ain’t saying, ‘I got a first down.’ Swag ain’t swaying before a kickoff and they run back to the 45-yard line.

“Swag is whipping the man on the other side of you. That’s what swag is. Swag is, when the game’s over, we win the game. That’s what swag is. I don’t care what the boys did in the past.”

SECOND & LONG

The ’Canes memorialized the spirit of dead baseball ace Jose Fernandez of Major League Baseball’s Miami Marlins with a ‘JF 16’ helmet sticker. Fernandez was killed last Sunday in a tragic boat wreck … No. 17 Michigan State paid homage to alum Mylan Hicks, the Calgary Stampeders player who was gunned down outside a Calgary nightclub last weekend. MSU players warmed up in black No. 6 Hicks t-shirts before the evening tilt against host Indiana … No. 2 Ohio State (4-0) waxed Rutgers (2-3) 58-0 with QB J.T. Barrett throwing for four TDs and 238 yards on 21-of-29 passing and RB Mike Weber running for 144 yards and a major … No. 4 Michigan (5-0) got the winning TD, 46 yards from QB Wilton Speight to Amara Darboh, midway through the fourth quarter to squeak past pesky Wisconsin (4-1) 14-7 … No. 13 Baylor (5-0) escaped with its unbeaten record in tact, getting a last-play field-goal of 19 yards from Chris Callahan to cap 17-point, fourth-quarter rally in a 45-42 Big 12 triumph over host Iowa State (1-4).

THIRD & GOAL

What a wild, wacky finish in Athens, Ga! And No. 11 Tennessee (5-0) survives yet another slow start to score a 34-31 win over No. 25 Georgia (3-2) on a last-play hail-mary touchdown, 43 yards from QB Joshua Dobbs to receiver Jauan Jennings. It came just 10 seconds after Riley Ridley hauled in a 47-yard TD pass from Georgia QB Jacob Eason. Tennessee trailed 24-14 after three quarters and rallied, taking the lead with 2:56 left on a Corey Vereen fumble recovery in the Georgia end zone … Just when you think Texas (2-2) might be back, they suck again, losing 49-31 to Oklahoma State (3-2) in Stillwater, Okla. The Big 12 rivals combined for four blocked kicks on convert attempts, including three by host Cowboys in the first half — one for a two-point score. Texas’ troubles on the convert — it also failed on a two-point try — meant a six-point swing in the game … Cool new uniforms for the Cowboys featured a slick sheriff’s badge on their helmets … Suddenly, Iowa’s defence can’t stop anything. And neither did Northwestern’s on Saturday, during what was supposed to a low-scoring slugfest between the Big Ten squads. It was anything but in a 38-31 steal by Northwestern (2-3), which racked up 362 yards in the backyard of Iowa (3-2).

FOURTH & INCHES

This just in — Chris Petersen is a darn good coach. He did it for years in Idaho, elevating Boise State into the national spotlight. Now Petersen’s got No. 10 Washington (5-0) barking in the Pac-12. The Huskies walloped No. 7 Stanford (3-1) — the Pac-12 pre-season fave — 44-6 Friday night in Seattle to make UDub a sudden NCAA title contender. The Dawgs held Heisman candidate RB Christian McCaffrey to just 79 total yards from the line of scrimmage … On Thursday night, No. 6 Houston (5-0) — backed by QB Greg Ward Jr.’s 32-for-38, 389-yard, three-TD act — smacked Connecticut (3-2) 42-14 … Notre Dame (2-3) went deep often against Syracuse (2-3), as QB DeShone Kizer hit paydirt on tosses of 79, 67 and 54 yards in a 50-33 victory at MetLife Stadium, the home of both the NFL’s New York Jets and New York Giants. WR Equanimeous St. Brown — how’s that for a handle? — rolled up 182 yards on just four catches for Notre Dame. tsaelhof@postmedia.com

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